The Sun. — London, England, 1810-11-13 00:00:00

profels7on, who have derived their celebrity from havin4 preclised in those assemblies. I have a strong and ardent wish that I could possess their Lordships with the feelings that aieuated my mind ; it was not for the want of a sincere and honest wish that I nave erred against the letter of the law , but I ,suffer be cause I have been misled and drawn aside by the excess of my feeling -4, in bringing forward a , -us)jer.t of, discussion on ',behalf of one whom I conceived to be air oppressed and persecuted individual. As tar as re•peets the Noble Prosecutor acrd NIL Finnerty, they are equally strangers to me-, and equally in diltieeht. I neither know nor .care for ought re speeting Lord Castlereagh. I can hate no personal' politic against Lim. I owe him neither fiyour nor enmity, and should not know him if present in Court. The sentiments I expressed were delivered publicly there Lvas 1.6 dark and malignant effort made, but I stared what I thought at ~the time to be ties.. It must have occurred to the mind of the Courtthat I hare very recently returned _from imprisonment for another cause.; that scarcely was I dragged to pfison, hardly alite, but at that. very moment th e Noble Prosecutor . fastened upon m y back the in die-talent in question. I do not wish to make any observation personally; but it appears • to me that I have ben treated .rather harshly, for I think, than it it depended upon the ,Honourable Counsel who is instrumental in managing this cause for the secution, he • would hate s lid that I hed already suffered enough, having endured tour month, imprisonment.; but I have scarcely - had time • to return to the bosom of my wife and family --to recover the ,derangement necessarily imident to a. situation of that s.rt,',and to taste the•sweets of li -,berty, beiore another indictment is fixed upon me he would have said that it was vindidive, and would not have eqconraged • it ; but the AttotnerGeneral had no choice, and must do what belonged to his ottice, and I muSr endnre it IA ith patience acid re• signation e It would have. beesme the pros' tutor ; and would have shone as a feather in his cap, with. a noble inagoanitnity, he had passed over this, and had saii, that after such sufferings he would no, press ag,on,t- such an huniule inaivldual—that .bis . character stood fir eitough in the- world, and needed not a I indieiive prosecution to place it higher. Un der these circumstances it would be indecorous in me to otter any thing which does not .belorg to my own case ; it would be improper to utter anything disrespeetful of the chara&er and motives of the Noble Prosecutor ; but still I cannot help feeling a something that convinces me that I shall sleep more soundly in the cell to which pcs,ihly I may be sere. tenced, than Lord Castlereagh will sleep either upon, his pillow of rests or his bed o down. The tunes are such, that even it it had 1.),..tt0 only from motives of polity, I think the Noble Liird ought rather to have let me escape, because I think at this moment every hand - arid heart, o.ight to be engaged, and . meanly as I think of my own abilities,- I think they could have been of sonic service in my country's and it would have better become his Lord ship to have sacrificed his own private feelings upon the altar of justice. I know not what impression the sentimei:ta I have uttered may have made upon the:" Lorcish ps,. but alt I have had in view was to put them in possession, as far as could be; of the ho liest sentiments of my mind, however mistaken thi y may have been. As to the character of the institu tion, it was not tor the purpose of introducing a mock tribunal, or of assembling together low and illiterate persons; hut 'the audience was really re spettabie, the di•cussions were fair —every Gentle-• man mi,bi speak on either side—and though I will not defend the sort of meeting, taking for granted that there has been no mistake in laying down the law in this case, and that' they have not the advan tage of legal authority, yet I have adted with an honest intention, and the Court may be carried too far, if, under these circumstances, 'it is induced to pass a severe sentence on the individual who stands before it. I trust their Lordships will suffer no idea tp come across their minds that shall induce then to suppose that the man who stands for judgment would, to save his life, be guilty of meanness or prevarication, but that while he stands before them for justice, he asks of their Lordships that mercy which it is becoming in them to grant." Al TORNZY -GUN ERAL—" My Lords, as I am st holly unacquainted with the nature of those ser- • vices which the defendant, it' he were suffered to remain at large, would be able to render to the public • /in these popular discussions, I Cannot well judge whether it were or were not prudent in my Lord Castlereagh to institute this prosecution against him, at the expence of that public loss. The defendant Las stated to your L• ordships, that he is a man who, in times like these, must be of great use to the public, and that therefore it would, have become Lord Castlereagh more, iii, his magnanimity, to have overlooked this otieuce than to have prosecuted him for it, lest the - public should suffer by the loss of his service;, occasioned by his imprisonment. In deed, my Lords, I am unacquainted with any ground that the defendant can have for urging such an ar gument. lam not, aware of any loss which the public will sustain, even if your Lordships should infli& the sentence'of imprisonment upon the de- lendant, and thst consideration, therefore, I am sure, will be no obstiuclion to the dispenoation of that justice which your Lordships will think ought on this occasion to be dispensed in regard to him. Lord Castlereagh has insti t u te d this prosec ut i on against' the defbridant, complaining of a wrong ; the defendant presen's himself before your Lordships extenuating . that which Lord C ast l ereag h f ee l s as a via,ng, and stating to your Lordships that he acted in the exercise ofa right ; that he had a right to call together this assembly, for the purpose of, judging of Lord. Ca4lere,;gh, and that in the exercise of that right, he most magnanimously gave to Lord Castlereagh a fair opportunity of dtAending that if Lord Castlereagh did not appear befOre this tribunAl and delnd himself, it was his fault, and that be, -the defendant, did no mote than his duty in delivering to the public the result of those diectisqinns. Your Lordships, in this .Court, will al ways support the rights of ad the subjeas of this country. Your Lordships will also redress the wrongs which they sustain, aid if that xvhieh the cielendint insists upon as a right be indeed a right, your Lardships will support.him in the exercise of it. IT, on the other hand, it be not a right, but Lord Castlereagh lets sustained a wrong by the Die g d conduct of thedeletulant, your Lordships will visit Iglu with a whelesnine putriatotient, and that punishment will he the more seiteie because he has insisted upolf it as a right. Whit right is this which the: defendant insists upim ? That Seeing in another publicatioff a gross and foul slander against Loril Castlereagh, but thinking well of the Publisher of that Paper, he feels himself justified to call upon Lord Castlereagh upon .a Bill of Indictment, as he would stale it, found in the Morning Chranicle, to answer before a jury assembled at the British Fo rum, and defend himself against those foul and ca lumniourcharges which the Grand Jury, the Morn ing Chronicle, fourid agate`st httn. The Edit o r o f the Morning Ch ron i c l e s tates , You Lord Castle ' reegh have abused your'office to purposes of op t pression ; you have tanjustly pronouacecha sentence against Mr. Finnerty, and have carried that. sen , fence into execation. You ate found, 'moreover, by this indictment found in the Morning Chrnicic, • that' you, the Minister of Ireland, sent tot xecu • tion a Mr: Orr, convicted by a false verdia of ` Jury, although he Was - known to be innocent, and notwithstanding . that the Judge who tried him re • presented to you that he believed him to be innocent.' These Charges, says the defendant, are found ag tiust yOu in the Bill of Indiament preferred in the Morn ing Chronicle, and I call upon you before my tri tame!, the British Forum, to answer these charges. I tell you, you will have a fair trial before the Public, who (eel horror and indignation at the crimes which you have committed. I tell you (the mockery of expression he uses if the gentle Lord Castle reagh can prevail upon himself to appear before this tribunal, he Will be patiently heard. Patiently heard! By whom ? By alt those, who at the ex pence of a shilling a-piece, actuated by mischief or malice, or curiosity, or personal enmity (and what man is there in public life who has not enemies), against Lord Castlereagh. I call together all these to ahe assembly which I have advertised, for the purpoe of presenting to an enlightened Public the judgment that a Jury so called together shall give upon this charge exhibited against you. And I gi‘e you notice, that you are welcome to appear and defend yourself against this charge, and that yen will have a fair trial. Does a person capable of uttering such an address as the defendant has ut tered to a day to your Lordships, does he seriously im4ne he can impose upon your Lordships so far as to make you believe, that he looked to a fair im partial discussion of Lord Castlereagh's conduct at this meeting, this mock tribunal, this self-consti tuted and illegal (Court I was going to say) as sembly, for such it most unquestionably is. I will not enter into a discussion of what, the objea, what the intention, what the_ view of the defendant (who calls together and presides over the Society) may be, but I have no difficulty in stating to your Lordship ; that in the manner in which it appears upon this record to have been concluded, it is a most scanda lous and infamous assembly. It is an assembly that invites the enemies of those whom it charges with crimes to come forward and utter their slander against the person accused. It is an assembly which, in this instance, gives out to the public, as the result of a fair and candid discussion, that which is. in truth, nothing else but addition to the weight of that slander whit h had been published before in the Morning Chronicleagainst Lord Castlereagh; and I do not think that it is possible, by any Observations to be made upon these papers, to aggravate the otienCe of the defendant, or to convey' to 'the minds of your Lordships, or to any who may hear them, a stronger idea of the mischievous slander than the mere peru sal of them must convey. How are they worded? In the first place, the publication of such a question is in itself a gross libel. Ought my Lord Castle ' reagh'sconduel towards Mr.Fi n nerty, during the late expedition to Walcheren, to be approved as a Wu ' Lary measure of precaution to preserve order and discipline among his Majesty's forces, or reprobat e ed as a flagrant infringement upon the liberty of a `British subject, and a cowardly ad of oppression against an innocent individual Shall it be per mitted to any man to call together a multitude for the purpose of discussing a question proposed to them, whether one of their fellow subjects, placed in the situation in which Lord Castlereagh then was placed, had been guilty of so foul an °deuce as is imputed to him, at least hypothetically imputed to him, in this question so put. How do they pro ceed ?—" The statement of Mr. Finnerty's treat , ment of Lord Castlereagh, as it appeared in the Morning Chronicle, of Thursday, the 23d instant, has been read with the most lively emotion, and has excited universal astonishment and alarm."— Then he goes on :—" If the gentle Lord Castle. reagh can muster sufficient confidence to venture to a public assembly, of free and independent English men, he may rest assured that he shall have fair play."—Now your Lordships will see what fair play in this mock tribunal Lord Castlereagh was likely to meet with ; there is nothing for which the Managers of this Institution more ardently long, than an opportunity of meeting his Lordship and his adherents face to face, and hearing them vindi cate their character and conduct before this So ciety. Now, how is that expressed, " before an outraged and instilled country ;" so that they go first to the decision, that Lord Castlereagh, by his con duct, has outraged and insulted the country ; and then they call Lord Castlereagh before this outraged and insulted people, to address them, and persuade them that they have already conic to an errone ous judgment upon the subject. Now, that is-the first publication. What is the next ? It repeats the question. It states, that last Monday, notwith standing the mean and malignant attempts to stifle the discussion of the present important question, by tearing down and defacing the hills, a crowded as sembly (among whom were several Noblemen and Members . of the House of Commons) attended, and, after a very interesting debate, the opener was about to reply, when a Gentleman, intimately and person ally concerned, entered the room, and haVing pledg ed himself to attend on the next evening, and either open the debate or take a part in the discussion, the uestion was, with the consent of a large majority, adjourned. Then it says, " Lord Castlereagh or his adherents are peremptorily summoned to attend, and prevent, if possible, his charaeter from being con signed to everlasting infamy and disgrace." My Lord, it is -time that this Gentleman and they have not yet learnt it should learn their duty.. It is time they should learn that no -man, consistently with his duty to the public and to the law, can thus, without authority, call another before this mock— this sell-constituted tribunal, to answer to supposed charges exhibited against him, by men who, have no authority whatever over his condud, or power to inquire into it, and whose accusations can be re ferred to nothing but malignity and ill will; nor, notwithstanding all that the defendant has said of this Society can I attribute the coudu& of those who tave abed in it to any thing but malignity and ill will towards Lord Castlereagh. The defeada, t has told your Lordship that he knows not Lord Cas tlereagh, that he owed no personal spleen against him ; therefore, because he IstroAs him not, I do believe that it is not spleen against the person of Lord Castlereagh, but I do believe it proceeds from a desire of attacking the public character of Lord Castlereagh. Ido believe that it proceeded from a desire of pulling down in the public estimation, without aoy knowledge of the fads to which !his ad vertisement refers, the character which Lord Cas tlereagh has obtained with the public. Ido believe that the objea of it was to tix upon Lord Castle reagh the imputation of h.tving grossly s iolated his duty as Secretary of State. Ido believe it had for its objetl to fix upon Lord Castlereagh the imputa tion of having (when it falsely stated that he was the Minister of Ireland) unjustly promoted the execu tion of Mr. Orr. I believe that the object of those who called together tins assembly to this debate, was to fix these imputations upon Lord Castlereagh, and to lead the unwary to believe that a fair discus sion of the question had taken place at this assem bly, whether Lord Castlereagh was or was not guilty of,. those offences thus i puted to him ; and that after that fair discussion, before what the defendant is pleased to call an enlightened Public, Lord Castle reagh has justly been couviaed of those offences.— That was the objea of those who called this assem bly togethei; and will your Lordships sq, I do not ask 'A h. tiler you will say that this can legally be done; but will your Lordships say that it is any ex tenuation of the offence of the defendant,. that, he saw these charges published in the Morning Chro nicle, and therefore thought himself justified to call upon Lord Castlereagh to answer them before this jury assembled, as tie had assembled it by his pla cards, at the British Forum ? Is it any extenuation of this wrung, which he has offered to Lord Castle reagh, that he insists he had a right to do what he did ? Will your Lot &ships say that aless severe sen tence ought to be pronounced against the defendant for the orfence which he has committed, because, in his defence, he insists that what he did he had a right to do; and from his so insisting, your Lord ships must collect he wilt do it again. - • Mr. JOHN GALE JONES.—I have, certainly by no. means insisted'on theright.. ATrORNEY-GENEEA.L.-I understand you, and I am, and always shall be, exceedingly glad to be correaed by a person standing in the defendant's situation, if, in making any observations upon his case to your Lordships, I have misconceived, mb stantially, the ground upon which he his put it. 1 had certainly collected fium the general texture of the defendant's address to your Lordships, that he thought that this assembly which he called together 4.36 rightfully constituted, ,and that he had a right so to call them together. That may he qualified, perhaps, by the purposes for which they ate called. But what then has been said by the uetendant in extenuation of his offence ? He says, he. thought that which was contained in the Morning Chronicle was true, and he conceivT that there is a great dit ference between the offence of him who is the au thor of the calumny, and of him who only adopts it. My Lord, - that depends very much upon the circumstances ; I am of opinion, in this case, that the offrnce of Mr. Jones -has about it all that can be imputed to the authur of the letter in the Morn ing Chronicle, and also more; that was the publica tion or what Mr, Finnerty chose to consider as a charge against Lord Castlereagh—for that Mr. Fin nerty is to answer; but the defendant who now stands before your Lordships , for judgment, could not react that publication of Mr. 14'inneriy's against Lord Castlereagh, without seeing that it was a gross libel upon his Lordship—he could not be ignorant of that—but seeing that it was a gross libel against Lord Castlereagh, and not pretending himself, I will not say to have received any in jury, but to have suffered any thing at the hands. of Lord Castlereagh, he voluntarily, unconnected with the transaction himself, chooses to call Lord Castle reagh before his tribunal, at this British Forum—re peats the charge against him—tells him that the public are outraged at the offence which is imputed to him, and calls upon him to defend himself—and ultimately convicts him of all the offences which had been imputed to him in that paper in the Morn ing Chronicle. Mr. Finnerty, in the Morning Chro nicle, pretending to think he - had been injured by Lord Castlereagh, states the ground of that injury. Mr. Jones, at the British Forum, repeats that libel, 3,vhich was stated in the Morning Chronicle 'by M r . Finnerty—he was no party in the business hiniself— - . _ he thrusts himself into it—he volunteers as the ma- nager of this deb:nu—he calls togethr persons of a certain description to discuss whether .Lord Castle- reagh be or be not guilty of these° charges—he serves a summons, a mock summons, upon Lord Castlereagh, to -attend this trial, which he knew Lord Castlereagh must be mad if he or any of his friends attended, and then, because he does not at- tend, he pronounces judgment of conviction against him, of all these foul charges which were contained in the Morning Chronicle. The defendant has mentioned that he was imprisoned on another ac- count, by the sentence of another tribunal, and he thinks it would have been more becoming Lord Castlereagh, that it would have been more magna nimous, it, considering the_ effect of an imprison ment which lasted four months, lie had not insti tuted this prosecution. My Lord, it is a bad ex cuse/ of a - man, wlien he ;s called to answer for committing one offence, that he committed another which subjeted him to inconvenience, that that should render the legal consequencesmf this still more lenient to him than it otherwise would be. It is hardly worth stating to your Lordships, that this indiatment was preirrred when that imprison. Merit whiell the defend:tilt speaks of sli t, 17'551 wei...k old; but he that as it a iy, your i x ' s s will not thi n k that a Lbeller oor , lit to be the `n h punished beau:e he is not now for he firs t l• 5 called .up .n to answer fOr a lib e l. yoor LordslPf. will not think th at h e w h o I ra ! , s i n a particularc)er fence ntu;tit the l es , to be called upon tO 05- bas tor any particular ad of offence, ty..rause a nd committed many others of the sane descripli°' l ,4 ' ` OO ., has been called upon to attwier for theca: 1.611 `;', 0 3 thing of extenanion in that an-it:Went. If Cil ;;, to search it, I think I should hod much of gg' 3 , ration ; but all this is for your Lontships s 'coo sld ` f i , lion. The cifence winch die defendant ht:ls milted "appears to me to be a very crave anii 9 1-11 thce ; it appears to me to be more griT%c"'" 4 ' rious, and to call more imperatively for kour ships' attention, from that which Cie detcodaot urged—l will not say in defence, but in extenuar't, of it—because, as fir as I can form anv jtt~4 love .every , opie that be has urged, hoping theietV your Lordship s t o p ass a li g h ter sentence . u rn 1).7 has added to the magnit,Ode of his otrenee, either shewn that he was proceeding (";!itch disavows) from a desire of injuring Lord C 3 ' l reagh, or it shews that he is defeating himself a trcr' v proiciples which, if they are not eheed: hereafter he most dangerous to the country• these observatio;;s I leave .the case to your 1- ; ( , ) , " be sh;ps, folly satisfied that th e puoishment " it COTIVICIISU!ate to the extent o f ti c will not go beyond it. lam the fi r ,i t it:- , te l " at it may not go beyond it,. but that it may cote t i p to the measure of it. L';rd ELLENBoROUGII---" Let the s defcncian A t committed to. his M.ijesty's jail of .Novvgate; brought up this day fortnight. THE. KING V. FINNERTY. Mr. ATTORNEY-GENERAL stated, that he w 35 . iii ; stru&ed to pray the judgment of the Court oga llis Mr. Finnerty. erdavi t , t Mr. CURWO OD stated, th a t h e h a d an ---1 just put into hi, band, that the defendant, was in Dubiln, and had not yet been able to re— England, but was expedted daily. Tile ATTORNEY-G ENERAL agre e d to a few postponement. NOVEMBER 13. SIR P. BURDETT V. THE SERJEANT AT AEI Mr. Serjeant SHEPHERD came into Court °t au early hour this morning, to shew cause agains t t-e rule obtained for putting Off the Trial at Bar in ' l ' 6 above case, until the demurrer should previonslY hV argue.4.l-in s that of the same plaintiff against ll ' Speaker. The Learned Seri - emit entered into a great s'lr eri of observations with a view of showing the urg erci rfa of proceecting to the above trial bef or e any 3 '5 - .cents were heard, or any jud gmen t p ron ounce" -on 3 demurrer, contending toat the plaintiff 1 13 ' 1 right by the. praffice of the Cou r t to s hape out 11 ,5 own i _nse of proceeding. After being heard f°' considet time against the rule, The Al •)IINEY-GENERAL rose in supPnr t - of 'He argued, that as a matter of law was raise;' 1 1 9 t plaintiff - himself, it was fitti n g th at t h e Court sh ( Y` l; 3 previously determi ne u p on t h at b e f ore they prnceed t . 14 6 on any thing that b a d to do with matter of fk"' Q '' did not impute a n y spec i es o f w ilf u l d e l a y 1° t plaintiff, but he contended that he might /I° joined issue upon the demurrer, so as to lave question of law settled last Term. • iediY Lord ELLEN - BOROUGH expressed himself dec id e' that' it would be for the benefit of the C OOlerl' flii parties, that the law should be first ascertained' the Lordship "observed, th a t by ta ki ng t h at c onrsc. Cour4and theJuryvvould knowtheir distinct pr" s ' in and each cause would be stripped of confoi° d embarrassment, and t h e p ar ti es themselves vi°l3 know what to seek and what to defend. his The other Judges una n i mous ly agree d w ;, "" Lordship, and the three Rules were made abqoltite' Alrll LS. nu Pt ARRIVED-2 Anholt, i Heligoland, i Lisbon, Waterford. , rd. Dt,is—t Cadiz, t Lisbo n , t Malta, iDublin, Wa-„f° PRICE OF ETOCKS Tuts DAY Ar rwitva O'CLOCK• -66 - I Omnium - Consols - T 1-1 E S UN. SOLEM QUIS DICIRE FALSUAI AUDEAT ? LONDON, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1810. _ si .It is with the most heart-felt satisfaelion tha t vve lay before our Readers the following Medical Re/ 3J which was issued last night at Windsor :r " Windsor Castle, Nev' at - Eight P.M. His MAJESTY has had some hours sleep in th course of this day, and, upon the whole, appeal better than he has been s i nce the c ominenceu lellt of his illness. c : H.R. REY NGLas, H. HALFoRD. a W. HEBBRDBI4. st M. BAILLIE• " R. WILLts." 1•1••••••••••• The fallowing is the Repoit of this morning " *-1 ' Windsor Castle, Nov. 13 ' I'Sl 7lls " Hrs MAJESTY has had little or no sleeP eu ji.- night, but continues ft.welt as in the two prec days. Sigurd as above. W. l ast hi s A GoTT It th e 1, tailed tha t b S anta, tui. gt t hat t. i fr eilt ( Li h i wag , and i ha rass Live I 4ib le t th 4t Ci 110 au,i S al]. • . oui ( ktr s t , reculi ra ( i es h, taus.' WLi. an Ari, ves vi s i _ (41 11lig:It Itt-, ti cm, Ir f , at wi at ances Alli es ci ' ai rong 41'041d 41ti on al and fi o ! , ) th : Of POSsil 1. 41 0: reri c h . th at :. th e Op e "`' ' lB gro ut zi tu ark, ire ßlil~ of twe, 411 adve l atid I 1". -"11 not beqii b e li, eti it 1/441 "at i t w ih hi s pi , art/;) 4 4 A -.4 1137 All tk Freseiit t 41 'Hate 1 !le dis; . W e ar O n g thi n s I;°thiak ‘has cot atithorit; t,\NC